Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Black Bean Lasagna

Well, Noted and Blogged is going to have something for everyone. I've decided to post recipes for dishes that 1) are at least sort of Good For You, and 2) have gone over well with both kids and adults in the SandyShoes household. If the Peanut clears her plate without being told to Take Another Bite, then woo hoo! we have a winner.

The inaugural entry:
Black Bean Lasagna (modified from a Cooking Light recipe*)
2 c. chopped onion
2 c. chopped bell peppers; I like to use 2 different colors but it doesn't matter which ones.
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 t ground coriander
1.5 t ground cumin
2 c. chopped tomato
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I use low salt beans)
3 T chopped fresh cilantro
8 oz. lowfat sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 16 oz. bottle salsa (I use mild so the kids will eat it)
1 8 oz can no-salt added tomato sauce
12 oven ready lasagna noodles
8 oz. Montery Jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 F.
In a large deep skillet (or small Dutch oven), saute onion, peppers and garlic 5-6 minutes.
Add coriander, cumin and tomato, cook 3 minutes.
Add beans, cook 3 minutes.
Remove from heat, cool 10 minutes.
Stir in cilantro, sour cream, and egg.
Spread 1/4 of the salsa and half the can of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 13x9" dish.
Put in 4 lasagna noodles.
Top with 1/2 of the bean mixture, 1/3 of the cheese, and another 1/4 of the salsa.
4 more noodles.
Rest of the bean mixture, 1/3 of the cheese, another 1/4 of the salsa.
4 more noodles.
Top with the rest of the tomato sauce, salsa and cheese.
Cover, bake 30 minutes.
Uncover, bake 15 minutes.
Let stand 5 minutes.
Voila.

Not super quick, but easy, tasty, and loaded with vegetables. Bonus: Mr. SandyShoes gets a couple days' lunches out of the leftovers.

*Modifications:
1) Rather than follow the elaborate procedure for including jalapenos (cut, seed, flatten, broil, seal in plastic bag, let stand, peel, chop...I have time for this?), I eliminated them. But if you like jalapenos a lot, then do all that to 4 of 'em, then add them to the pot with the beans.
2) I added the little can of tomato sauce to ensure there's enough moisture to use the oven ready lasagna. Why cook lasagna noodles? Really.

2 comments:

  1. Sandy, this sounds *so* good! I'll definitely be trying it. Are y'all vegetarians, or do you just like going meatless every once in a while? (We're a family of bad vegetarians here...)

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  2. Hi Ally! Yep, it's a keeper.

    We're not vegetarians, but we don't eat as much meat as many families do (I think) and I'd be happy to eat even less.

    I'm always especially glad to find a good, satisfying vegetarian recipe. Chicken is tasty (see upcoming post), but it just doesn't seem as hard to find ways to cook it.

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